“Empire Records was made in 1995 and barely blipped on the radar when
it was given a very limited theatrical release a year or two later.
However, since then, it’s bounced around home video and cable
(especially on MTV and VH-1), where it’s acquired modest cult status. A
viewer (like yours truly) unfamiliar with the original cut will be
unenlightened as to what’s been added/changed for the Warner Home
Video’s new “Remix: Special Fan Edition” cut of “Empire Records,” but
the cult thing isn’t too hard to understand – the movie has the kind of
shaggy, heartfelt charm that shines through when sincere love of music
is the subject matter.

“Empire Records” is somewhat reminiscent of “Pump Up the Volume,”
another little cult hit from the same director, Allan Moyle. This time,
the subject matter is an independent record store, where 30-something
manager Joe (Anthony LaPaglia) presides over a brood of teenaged
employees, all of whom have their own issues. A.J. (Johnny Wentworth)
is trying to figure out how to confess his love to the gorgeous Corey
(Liv Tyler), who has just been accepted to Harvard and wants to lose
her virginity with pop star Rex Manning (Maxwell Caulfield), who is due
to do an in-store album signing. Corey’s best friend Gina (Renee
Zellweger) secretly resents Corey’s glowing future and drowns her
anxieties in promiscuity. Good-natured Mark (Ethan Embry, billed as
Ethan Randall here) dreams of guitar godhood, while rebellious Deb
(Robin Tunney) contemplates her own mortality. Meanwhile, unflappably
philosophical Lucas (Rory Cochrane) has just blown all the store’s cash
in Atlantic City. Since this is the money Joe was planning to use to
buy the store from its current crass, music-indifferent owner, it looks
like the building will be sold to a music store chain.

The group’s wobbly efforts to forestall the commercial takeover of
their beloved funky workplace provides the slender throughline. Moyle,
writer Carol Heikkinen and the cast – full of faces who would achieve
much greater fame in a few years – ably put across the credible if not
terribly innovative teen angst and comedy, but what gives “Empire
Records” an irresistible edge is the characters’ delight in music. When
they geek out over the selection of Jeff Beck or fantasize about
jamming with monster-costume band Gwar (who appear as themselves) or
just air guitar and actual drum and dance along with whatever is
pounding out over the Empire Records’ speakers, their goofy, abundant
enthusiasm is infectious. There’s also something very comforting about
Joe’s beleaguered but total acceptance of his young charges – he even
tries to comprehend Lucas’ catastrophic actions.

The new print is nice and clean, though there’s a bit of optical
glitter in Chapter 2 from a set of twinkling ceiling lights. The 5.1
soundtrack is mostly good, though the rears do some rather peculiar
clunking in Chapter 7 when the soundtrack combines sounds of an
electric shaver with the song “Free” – if it’s an intentional effect,
it’s not a pretty one. However, most of the plentiful songs, which
include contributions from the Gin Blossoms, The Cranberries, Toad the
Wet Sprocket, Cracker, Evan Dando, Better Than Ezra and the
aforementioned Gwar, come across handsomely. Chapter 6 also has a very
realistic ambient effect as coins hit the floor, Chapter 15 has, of all
things, quite convincing silverware noises (and the fetching sight of
Tyler in her lingerie) and Chapter 23 has both some startlingly punchy
gunshots and a sudden bit of discretely-placed dialogue in the left
rear. The sound on my DVD went slightly out of sync in Chapter 23,
though not disastrously so. Fans of Zellweger can catch her singing a
rock tune in Chapter 26, previewing her Oscar-nominated turn in
“Chicago” last year.

The four additional scenes are fairly agreeable – one of them redeems a
character who is left fairly slimy in the film as it now stands. The
sound on the added scenes is a bit low and located in the center
channel. However, the three music videos – a pricelessly tacky
‘80s-style “Say No More” performed by Caulfield as Rex Manning, and two
entries from Gwar (one of these is the extended version of Mark’s
fantasy) – are all in full 5.1.

“Empire Records” isn’t particularly novel, but it’s hard not to respond
to its sense of genuine ecstasy about all things rock ‘n’ roll. It’s
unpretentious fun.

more details

sound format:

English 5.1 Surround

aspect ratio(s):

1.85:1

special features:

Four
Deleted Scenes; Maxwell Caulfield’s/Rex Manning’s “Say No More” Music
Video; Two Gwar Music Videos; Cast and Director Biographies; Theatrical
Trailer; English, French and Spanish Subtitles; English
Closed-Captioning